The Married Billionaire’s Surrogate

A gasp escaped Alicia’s mouth at the sight of it and her feet seemed to be glued to the filthy carpet. That wasn’t possible. Never in her wildest dreams would Alicia do something like that. Not if her life depended on it.

“It’s not possible,” Alicia voiced her thoughts.

“Well we all see it is!” Elizabeth scowled at her.

“Where did you find this?” Steven asked the guard.

“Here, sir. In this book, sir. It was hidden somewhere in the middle, sir, and after combing through the whole room I found it there, sir,” the man in his fifties that had served in the house even before Alicia was hired explained, evidently nervous.

“I will get to the bottom of this,” Steven said furiously and left the room. Elizabeth followed him smiling.

Alicia was still shaking unbelievably when the guard approached her. “I am sorry, miss, but I did what I had to do.”

She nodded and was finally alone in her now chaotic room. Everything was scattered all around; all of her books were turned upside down on the bed, her clothes were a huge ball of textile on the floor. As if it wasn’t enough crying for the day, tears again welled up in her hazel eyes, but she did not cry. She pushed the books off her bed sheets and just lay on her bed in a fetus position trying to sleep. Trying so hard to close her eyelids and make everything disappear, make everything just a terrible nightmare she would get through and laugh at in the morning. Sadly, that wasn’t what happened.

Even before she could get a sip of a good night’s sleep, the morning came and the rays of sun woke her up earlier than she had imagined. Yawning she noticed the small clock next to her bed showing 7AM and abruptly rose from her bed. The events from the previous night were still dancing before her eyes in a haze, leaving her miserable, groggy and wanting to stay in bed the whole day. However, the Wyatt mansion was waiting for her attention. Mrs. Wyatt was waiting for her breakfast. Mr. Wyatt was waiting for his clean shoes to greet him on the porch. It seemed that the whole world was waiting for something from her, so she stood up with a low growl and rubbed her eyes.

The pajamas were in a blink replaced with a white shirt, black knee-length skirt and a white apron together with a black and white cap neatly placed on her head. Without looking back at her messy room she hurried to the kitchen hoping that her presence would remain unregistered by her bosses while her mind was sorting out the countless thoughts on whether she would keep her job, go to jail or whether her bosses would be angry at her. After a couple of minutes of thinking which seemed like hours to her, her answers were – probably, God forbid, definitely.

Noticing the living room empty, she sighed in relief and quickly went to the cupboard in the entrance hall. For some reason her hands couldn’t stop shaking. Maybe it was from stress or just an after effect from the previous night, but she couldn’t bring herself to take Steven Wyatt’s coat and clean it of hairs. Eventually she gave up and headed for the kitchen. Halfway through and she hit a barrier, not believing that she had done it again.

“Alicia, this has become a habit of yours, hasn’t it?” Steven Wyatt asked her and chuckled.

“I am sorry, sir. After yesterday…”

“Forget yesterday. I told you that I’ll solve this drama happening inside my house. Tell me, how are you?” Steven’s voice was soft and she saw that he was wearing a dark blue tuxedo, a black tie and black shoes.

“F-f-fine, sir. Still can’t believe that what happened yesterday is real. I’ve never seen that necklace,” she repeated for the hundredth time and looked into his eyes. There was only kindness and trust in them, so she could feel her shoulders slump in relaxation. At better thought, Mr. Wyatt was the only one that supported her from the moment she entered those cold walls of the mansion.

The doorbell interrupted the moment of silence and she rushed toward the door excusing herself. She slowly opened it and her pupils spread in gladness at the sight of a familiar face.

“Christina!” Alicia exclaimed in pure joy and hugged her childhood best friend tightly. “What are you doing here?” Her voice was muffled in her friend’s bushy hair.

“Alicia, something happened,” Christina Rawlins said.

“What?” Alicia broke the hug and looked into the sadness written across Christina’s face. She wasn’t prepared for another shot from destiny’s gun. Oh, God, no more. The event with the necklace was already too much for her and now something else was coming up to test her. “Please tell me! Is it your family?”

“No, Ally. Your mom… I’m so terribly sorry I have to be the one to tell you this,” she said in a grave voice.

“No!” Alicia panicked and she felt her whole body trembling. Her heart was jumping in her chest and climbed into her throat.

“Your mom had a stroke. I’m afraid it’s serious. You have to come to the hospital now.”

“H-how? No! This could not be!” Alicia shouted and fell on her knees. Her body completely gave in and she could no longer muster any strength to keep the tears stuck in her throat. They freed themselves and eventually poured from her eyes as she drowned her pain in a loud weep. Christina’s hands around her were the only thing keeping her from falling apart.